I know this matter has been discussed several times before; however, I've reached a dilemma regarding this.

Previously I had raised a flag for this answer, but it was declined. The message was:

declined - flags should not be used to indicate technical
inaccuracies, or an altogether wrong answer

Today I encountered an almost same situation and reviewed the answer with No Action Needed. Unfortunately it was a test and costed me an 8-day suspension for reviewing. Why would the first answer be considered as a good answer, whereas the second one would get deleted?

1 Answer
1

Your first, declined flag says use this built-in function with these arguments, here's a link with further information. That's a somewhat reasonable answer, as the name of the built-in function might be a sufficient answer.

The second says: use this external library with a link to the library and without telling you how to use it. That's not a good answer, since it doesn't really address the question, and just suggests taking a different approach altogether. While that might not be a link-only answer in the strict sense, it is a pretty bad answer.

Shouldn't the first one be a comment, instead of an answer?
– iminikiJan 7 at 9:14

6

Certainly not. It's a full answer, that function does exactly what the OP is asking for, and thus use this function is a sufficient answer.
– Erik AJan 7 at 9:14

@iminiki Why do you think that the statement is an attempt to improve the question, rather than providing a solution to the problem described.
– ServyJan 7 at 22:26

@Servy Because I assumed that in order to validate a linked-answer, you should copy and change the linked content to match the question.
– iminikiJan 8 at 12:02

@iminiki Answers are not forbidden from having links, they simply need to answer the question even if the reader doesn't follow the link. Adding a link to an answer doesn't suddenly turn it into a non-answer when it was previously an answer.
– ServyJan 8 at 14:30